1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of specifying various pieces of information used for printing in a predetermined printer and controlling the printer based on the specified information.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally required to incorporate the software called a printer driver into a computer, when printing data generated by the computer are printed by a printer connected to the computer. The printer driver is a computer program for setting various pieces of information regarding the printer, such as functions of the printer, an interface, font information, and control codes, in the computer so as to control the printer, and is provided for each model of the printer.
FIG. 33 shows a Properties dialog box 900 displayed by a conventional printer driver. The operator activates the printer driver incorporated in the computer through an operation of the computer and sets various pieces of information using the printer driver. In accordance with a concrete procedure, the operator opens the Properties dialog box 900 shown in FIG. 33 to set such information. The various pieces of information include those relating to the paper settings, such as the size and orientation of paper, and those relating to the graphics, such as the printing resolution and color adjustment, and are divided into a plurality of groups according to the functions. In the example of FIG. 33, the Properties dialog box 900 has a plurality of tabs 901 through 905 corresponding to the plurality of groups. The operator selects one tab among the plurality of tabs 901 through 905 with a pointing device, such as a mouse, in order to open and display the selected tab.
The operator inputs data on the displayed tab and thereby enables the information allocated to the tab to be set into the printer driver.
The prior art technique informs the operator of only pieces of information allocated to one selected and displayed tab during data input on the selected tab. In many cases, however, there is a demand for other pieces of information allocated to another tab during the data input on the selected tab. In these cases, the operator should select another tab including required pieces of information and change the display to another tab. When the change of display is carried out in the middle of data input on the selected tab, the operator should return the display to the selected tab. This structure requires the repeated operations of the pointing device for the change of display and consumes much labor of the operator.
When the operator desires to change the printing quality, the prior art technique requires the operator to input data regarding a number of items on a specific tab. Such data input consumes much labor of the operator.